Minimate Mini-Review #339 - Unworthy Thor & Collector

#339 - Unworthy Thor/Collector

No longer worthy of holding the hammer Mjolnir, the Odinson has passed it on to the new Thor, and now wields his axe Jarnbjorn in battle.

Thor? Unworthy? Who'd'a thunk it! This figure (and, in fact, this set) is based on the Unworthy Thor miniseries, which saw Odinson dealing with his new, un-hammered status. This is after he's cleaned up a bit, so he's not all bedraggled and scraggly, but instead has short hair and a beard (hmm, where have we seen that before?), a heavy red cape draped over his shoulders, and is wearing a shirt with discs on the chest and a skirt piece at the waist. His left arm is black uru metal, and he has a new leather bracer on his right arm. As promised, he wields the Jarnbjorn axe, but since this set is based on a specific storyarc, we also get Mjolnir. Ultimate Mjolnir. But weirdly, not the same mold Ultimate Thor carried; they made a new mold just for this? How odd! For true style points, they should have included a lump of dirt for it to sit on.

Taneleer Tivan is an Elder of the Universe, one of the oldest living beings. His mission is to preserve a sample of all life in the galaxy, as well as its greatest works.

The Collector is pretty well known, thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy, but it's still surprising to get a figure of him. Like fellow Elders of the Universe Champion and Grandmaster, the Collector is the last member of an otherwise-extinct race who is obsessed with one specific hobby - in his case, collecting. We can identify. The figure portrays him wonderfully, using a surprising number of new pieces (hair, cape, gloves, belt) to create his comicbook look. His anatomy is created by light paint on his dark body, and the overall colorscheme is quite pleasing.

Imagine going back to July 9, 2003, the day the first Marvel Minimates series hit stores, and telling someone that not only would the line be such a success that it still be going strong nearly 15 years later, but that it would eventually include a character as obscure as The Collector! Hell, in 2003, they'd probably think you were talking about Comicbook Guy from The Simpsons! There are those who refuse to even acknowledge the existence of Minimates, but there is no denying that Marvel Minimates is one of the most successful toylines of all time.